Asclepius, or Aesculapius among the Romans, was a Greek healing god sometimes called Paean meaning “the healer.”
Birth of Asclepius: Son of Apollo
In the most common version of his birth myth, Asclepius was the son of Apollo with a mortal, in some cases Coronis princess of Tricca in Thessaly. Apollo got upset when his lover betrayed him by sleeping with a mortal Ischys and used his prophetic powers to kill his rival. His sister Artemis also killed Coronis for her betrayal, but when her body was burning on her funeral pyre, Apollo realized that she was pregnant and rescued the baby Asclepius from her womb.
Other sources suggest that Coronis gave birth in the temple of Apollo with Lachesis, one of the fates, acting had her midwife. Phoenician tradition suggests that Asclepius was born directly from Apollo alone. Another suggests that the pregnant Coronis traveled to the Peloponnesus with her father but was hiding her pregnancy. She gave birth at Epidaurus and exposed the baby on a mountain called Tittheion. There, the baby was fed by the goats wandering the mountain until he was found and taken by Apollo.
Learning the Healing Arts
There are a variety of different myths about where Asclepius learned the healing arts. One story says that he was instructed in medicine by the centaur Chiron. Other sources suggest that he learned directly from Apollo himself.
Another story says that he rendered a kindness to a snake – considered to represent sacred beings – and it whispered secrets of healing in his ear. A different story says that he was called upon to restore the life of Glaucus, who was poisoned and killed by the witch Medea. While deciding what to do, a snake crept in. Lost in thought, he killed the snake by hitting it repeatedly with his staff. Later, another snake came in and revived the dead snake with some herbs. Asclepius then used the same herbs to bring Glaucus back to life.
Asclepius’ symbol was a staff with a snake coiled around it, not to be confused with the caduceus staff of Hermes/Mercury.
Death and Deification
Asclepius got so good at healing that he could bring the dead back to life. As well as Glaucus, he is said to have brought back the Spartan king Tyndareus, Capaneus, Hymenaeus, and Lycurgus. He may have brought back Hippolytus for Artemis in exchange for gold of love.
This angered Hades, who was losing souls that were rightfully his. He complained to Zeus, who was also worried about Asclepius sharing this gift and destabilizing the human population. Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt and then placed Asclepius among the stars to appease Apollo.
The deified Asclepius married Epione, another healing goddess, and had dive daughters – Hygieia, Panacea, Aceso, Iaso, and Aegle – and three sons – Machaon, Podaleirios, and Telesphoros. With the mortal woman Aristodeme he also has a son Aratus.
Healing Temples
Asclepius was worshipped across the Greco-Roman world at healing temples called Asclepeion where the sick were purified and made offerings to the gods, and could have their dreams interpreted and received treatment based on interpretation. Treatment could include sacred dogs licking the ill. Snakes were often kept on the premises and allowed to roam freely, and snakes were always introduced when new temples were established. Temples often contained replicas of body parts that were used in sympathetic healing rituals.
His most famous temples were at Trikala (mentioned by Strabo), at the Pool of Bethesda (mentioned in the Gospel of John and discovered by archaeologists), at Epidaurus (where he was reportedly exposed), Kos (where Hippocrates the father of medicine may have started his career), Gortys in Arcadia and Pergamum in Asia.
Aesculapius in the Roman World
In Rome, there is evidence of the worship of Aesculapius from at least 293 BCE. A plague hit Rome that year and following a consultation with Sibylline Books, rites were conducted for the god, and a temple dedicated with a statue obtained from his temple at Epidaurus in Greece. Legend says that while the Roman delegation was at the Greek temple, a serpent slid out of the temple and onto the Roman ship, returning to Rome with the delegation. The temple was finished and dedicated in 289 BCE.
A priestly college of Aesculapius and Hygia (his daughter Hygieia, a goddess of health) was founded in the 2nd century CE by a wealthy Roman woman Salvia Marcellina following the death of her husband and the procurator that he worked for. The college made sacrifices to the god and imperial cult sacrifices, they also acted as a burial society to organize funerals for its members, who also participated in a dining club.
Interestingly, cult on the birthday of the emperor was held at the Temple of the deified emperor Titus within the precinct dedicated to the divine Flavian emperors. This seems to verify that the divine Flavian emperors, Vespasian and Titus, were associated with healing. Before becoming emperor while traveling in Egypt, Vespasian reportedly had an encounter with the priests of the healing god Serapis. After, he performed two miracles. He was met by two laborers who were convinced that he had the power to work miracles as a vassal of Serapis. One was blind and the other had an unresponsive hand. He then spat in the eyes of a blind man, granting him sight, and stepped on the other man’s hand, which could then work perfectly.
Asclepius and Nodens
Through the Romans, the cult of Asclepius spread throughout Europe, even as far as Britain. There, he seems to have been closely associated with the local healing god Nodens, and revealed by the similarities between the healing temple of Nodens discovered in Gloucester and the temples of Asclepius.
The shrine for Nodens is of Romano-Celtic design. Measuring 72 by 54 meters, it has three chambers. It has been suggested that these chambers served as dormitories for sick visitors to sleep as they waited for their dreams to be interpreted. Dozens of figures of dogs have been found at the site, probably as votive offerings, similar to the appearance of gods at temples of Asclepius.
But Nodens was more commonly linked with Mars in surviving texts. The Celtic god was also associated with imagery of the sea, which is less easily connected with Asclepius.
Leave a Reply